The invention relates to a thin-film component comprising a substrate of an electrically insulating material, which is provided with two U-shaped side contacts as well as with an electrical structure, which is electrically connected to both side contacts. Examples of such electrical structures include resistive films, capacitor structures and coil structures as well as combinations thereof.
A thin-film component of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph is known per se. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,199, a description of a thin-film capacitor of this type is given. This capacitor more particularly comprises a substrate of glass on which a capacitor structure is provided by means of vapor-deposition and sputtering. This capacitor structure is composed of electrode layers of aluminum or nickel and of dielectric layers of silicon dioxide. Said capacitor structure is further provided with a passivating or insulating cover layer of a synthetic resin, such as polyimide. The capacitor is constructed such that the capacitor structure is situated between the substrate and the cover layer. Said known component also comprises two side contacts. These side contacts are composed of a three-layer structure of chromium, nickel and silver, which is provided by means of sputtering.
In practice, it has been found that thin-film components of the known type have an important drawback, namely that an unacceptably high percentage of this type of components fails standard bending tests. In these tests, the electrical functioning of the components is monitored while the printed circuit board (PCB) on which the component is soldered is bent through a specific angle. Such bending tests give an indication of the possibility and, if so, the reliability of employing such components on flexible PCBs and on PCBs which are subjected to vibrations.